The invention herein relates to a measuring device for manually determining the slope or taper angle of the end wall faces of a continuous casting mold. An example of such a type mold is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,727 issued Jan. 22, 1976 to Floyd R. Gladwin. Another example of such type mold and the operation of the continuous casting process with which such mold is used, is illustrated and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,612 issued May 17, 1977 to Charles Richard Jackson.
In general, the continuous casting process involves pouring molten steel into the open upper end of a bottom-less, box-like casting mold. The mold walls are cooled so that the molten metal begins to solidify while in the mold.
As the metal cools within the mold, a surface skin is formed where the metal contacts the cooled mold walls. That skin surrounds an interior molten core. Thus, the cast strand comprising a solidified skin enclosing a molten core, gravity feeds downwardly through the open bottom of the mold. The downwardly emerging strand is supported by rollers or roller aprons which prevent the skin from bursting due to the ferrostatic pressure within the core. Meanwhile, water sprays are applied to the strand to continue the cooling. Ultimately, the strand is solidified throughout and then lengths of the strand are cut off to form predetermined sized slabs.
The continuous strand or cast slab, while varying considerably in size, may be roughly on the order of four to twelve inches in thickness and two to five feet in width. The continuous strand is cut to desired length pieces.
The mold typically is formed of a pair of spaced apart broad or wide mold walls. Between the wide walls are an opposing pair of narrow, end walls. The walls are formed of a heavy fabricated steel wall construction with inner facings or linings made, usually, of copper. Cooling channels arranged between the interfaces between the copper linings and the steel walls, carry cooling water for removing heat from the molten cast material which contacts the copper lining inner faces.
Because the molten metal shrinks as it cools, the end walls usually are tapered or sloped from top to bottom, so that they are closer together at the lower end of the mold than at the upper end of the mold.
Various mechanical mounting means are used to position and to secure the end walls between the broad walls and to permit the end walls to be angled slightly to provide the desired slope. Thus, it is necessary to measure the slope or tilt of the end walls.
Because of the nature, size and location of the mold within the continuous casting apparatus, it is relatively difficult and time consuming to determine the slope or taper angle of the end walls. Hence, the invention herein is concerned with a measuring device which can be utilized manually to rapidly determine the slope.